New Research Points to New Boom in Idaho’s Snake River Corridor

By Jonathan Weber, 6-06-09

The dramatic downturn in the real estate market is likely to end sooner rather than later in the Northern Rockies, according to new research from Arthur C. Nelson, Presidential Professor and Director of the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah - and the Snake River Valley in Idaho is especially well-positioned for renewed growth.

Nelson’s research shows that surplus housing supply is likely to be absorbed by 2011 in Idaho. Further, the need to replace aging building inventory - especially in commercial real estate - will drive demand above and beyond what population growth trends alone would suggest.

Nelson presented the first cut of his new regional research at NewWest.Net’s Designing the New West conference in Bozeman in April. He has now drilled down further on what the mega-trends mean for Boise, the Treasure Valley, and Idaho as a whole, and will present the result at NewWest.Net’s new Planning in the West conference, June 17-18 in Boise.

If you take the long view, says Nelson, the Northern Rockies will benefit from powerful secular trends including population growth and an aging demographic that’s increasingly interested in smaller living spaces, rental housing, and walkable neighborhoods. While rural areas, cities and close-in suburbs stand to benefit, more distant suburbs will require wholesale re-making to retain their vitality. Nelson envisions traditional suburban shopping malls, and their extensive parking lots, as ideal sites for next-generation commercial and residential infrastructure.

“A huge share of future development can be done in these parking lots,” says Nelson. “We have to take these suburban strip corridors and transform them. It’s a no-brainer.”

Nelson is a veteran planner and advisor to several national think-tanks including the Brookings Institution. His keynote speech on growth, planning and development in the Snake River corridor will take place June 18 at the Stueckle Sky Center. For more information please call New West at 406-829-1725 or visit www.newwest.net/planning.